Canon EOS M5 review (Photography Blog)

Canon Eos M5 Mark Ii Mirrorless
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Canon EOS M5: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

At a glance:

  • 24.2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 2.36m-Dot EVF, Touch and Drag AF Control
  • 3.2″ 1.62m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD
  • Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 60 fps
  • Built-In Wi-Fi with NFC, Bluetooth Smart
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF
  • Up to 9 fps Shooting and ISO 25600
  • Digital IS 5-Axis Image Stabilization

Photography Blog posted their full Canon EOS M5 review.

From the conclusion:

Images directly from the EOS M5 are great, and it’s certainly on a par with other compact system cameras in those terms. However, while Canon has made excellent progress with its AF system for this camera, it can still be bested by others out there – the impact of which will vary greatly depending on the type of images you like to take […]

There’s a lot to like about the style and setup of the Canon EOS M5. Lots of dials and buttons make it easy to make changes, while the touch sensitive screen is responsive and useful in a variety of different scenarios. The viewfinder is great, if a little oversaturated, and the fact that you can continue to use the touchscreen to set autofocus point while you’re using it makes a lot of sense.

I can’t really agree with their opinion about the EOS M5’s auto-focus system. I tested the EOS M5 only for a few hours but I found AF to be snappy and on spot, even when using EF lenses through the adapter.

[via Photography Blog]

Sigma 12-24mm f/4 ART Review (D. Abbott)

Sigma 12-24mm F/4 Art Deal DG HSM
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Sigma 12-24mm f/4 Art: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

At a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/4 to 22
  • FLD and Aspherical Elements
  • Super Multi-Layer Coating
  • Hyper Sonic AF Motor, Manual Override
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
  • TSC Material, Brass Bayonet Mount
  • Dust- and Splash-Proof Construction
  • Compatible with Sigma USB Dock

Photographer and reviewer Dustin Abbott posted his final review of the Sigma 12-24mm f/4 Art lens.

From the conclusion:

Overall the Sigma 12-24mm f/4 DG HSM ART is a very competent lens. It has few major flaws. Chromatic aberrations are well controlled, distortion is low, and vignette, while clearly present at f/4, isn’t quite as bad as some of the recent releases from other major companies.  It does a very credible job when shooting the night sky, though having a relatively small maximum aperture puts it at a bit of disadvantage […]

It falls a little short of a true 24mm, but that isn’t unusual, and I would argue that the true 12mm on the wide end is ultimately more important. […] One thing to note, […] is that the 12-24 ART is optimized for f/4-5.6 performance (at least on the wide end of the focal range) and I actually saw a trend where the image quality tended to be a bit worse rather than better as the lens was stopped down.

You can go for the written review, or watch the two videos below to learn about the Sigma 12-24mm f/4 Art.

 

Below: Image quality examination:

 

Canon EOS M5 review (a modern mirrorless, DPReview)

Canon Eos M5 Mark Ii Mirrorless
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Canon EOS M5: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

At a glance:

  • 24.2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 7 Image Processor
  • 2.36m-Dot EVF, Touch and Drag AF Control
  • 3.2″ 1.62m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD
  • Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 60 fps
  • Built-In Wi-Fi with NFC, Bluetooth Smart
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF
  • Up to 9 fps Shooting and ISO 25600
  • Digital IS 5-Axis Image Stabilization

DPReview posted their complete Canon EOS M5 review. The most important thing I wanted to learn, was about the Dual Pixel AF performance with non native lenses. Well, it seems the EOS M5 delivers plenty of good performance.

DPReview says DPAF works perfectly with adapted lenses (i.e. EF or EF-S lenses used thru the adapter), which is an important point given the limited offer of native lenses.

From the conclusion:

With regards to autofocus, the EOS M5 is remarkably similar to using an EOS 80D or 5D Mark IV in Live View mode, and overall, that’s a good thing. You can tap the touchscreen to initiate tracking on a subject (which proves very ‘sticky’), or even drag between multiple faces in a scene to tell the camera which to focus on (even if they’re at dramatically different distances from you). And with a full-on Dual Pixel AF setup, just like the 80D and the 5D, EF and EF-S lenses work just as well on the EOS M5 also. An added bonus – Dual Pixel AF has been shown to be extremely effective in very low light scenarios, but make sure you’ve also got a fast lens to give the system all the light it can get.

As far as performance, the EOS M5 is solid, if not exemplary. Startup time averages around a second, the burst shooting speed is at least competitive, and though battery life comes in with a below-average CIPA rating, those users who eschew flash use and constant ‘chimping’ will see a single battery last them through a day of moderate shooting. Read the review…

The review is obviously not without critics, which are of the usual kind: too late to hit the market, few lenses, and the ominous lack of 4K (who really needs it?).

I had the chance to play around with an EOS M5 for a few hours and was impressed with the ergonomics and the AF performance. A very cool feature is what Canon calls “Touch-and-Drag AF”, i.e. the possibility to control and move your AF points by using the touchscreen and while you are using the M5 with the viewfinder.

In the few hours I played around with the EOS M5 it made me think it is a solid product, with well-thought controls, and the overall quality we are used to get from Canon. And with Dual Pixel AF working so good, the EOS M5 could become a best seller.

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART Review

Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM
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The Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

At a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/1.4 to 16
  • Two Low Dispersion Elements
  • One Aspherical Element
  • Super Multi-Layer Coating
  • Hyper Sonic AF Motor, Manual Override
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
  • TSC Material, Brass Bayonet Mount
  • Compatible with Sigma USB Dock

Photographer and reviewer Dustin Abbott concluded his exhaustive review of the new Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART lens. The new Sigma 85mm gets a lot of attention and talk, and Dustin Abbott’s real-world review highlights what makes this lens so interesting.

While not being without flaws, having a “fairly strong amount of chromatic aberration“, the overall impression of the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM is very good. From the conclusion:

[…] the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 ART is pretty fabulous.  It is impressively sharp at all apertures, has the lowest vignette I’ve yet seen from an 85mm lens, and has fantastic light transmission.  The lens is beautifully built, has an exceptional nice manual focus ring, and focuses extremely quickly and quietly.  It is also the best focusing ART series lens that I’ve used, with much more consistent, reliable results (though focus accuracy drops when using outer focus points).  The bokeh is quite smooth, the transition and fall off from the lens is good, and images look great.  It is a great performer in the studio, and should be a serious consideration for portrait shooters.

The Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM sells for $1,199, a more than fair price for the optical performance this lens delivers. Dustin’s review comes with many sample pics and discusses all aspects the lens.

A closer look to the bokeh quality of the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM:

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III DxOMarked (sharpest EF 16-35mm f/2.8L to date)

EF 16-35mm f/2.8L

At a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/2.8 to 22
  • Three Aspherical & Two UD Elements
  • Subwavelength & Air Sphere Coatings
  • Ring-Type Ultrasonic Motor AF System
  • Internal Focus; Full-Time MF Override
  • Fluorine Coating on Exposed Elements
  • Dust- and Water-Resistant Construction
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III, a professional lens for news and event photographers, has been put on DxOMark’s benchmarks. It’s best iteration of the series so far. It’s an expensive lens, selling at $2,199, but its performance is top notch.

An important lens for many news, sports and event photographers who need speed and top performance at f/2.8, the improvements to edge sharpness on the new EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III will be appreciated. If it’s a lens you’re using on a daily basis, the improved resolution together with enhanced durability, including dust and water resistance, are probably enough to justify an upgrade from the ageing Mark I and II iterations. At $2199 it’s an expensive proposition though, not to mention big and heavy and, if you can live without its ‘fast’ f/2.8 maximum aperture, the cheaper, smaller and lighter 16-35mm f/4L version offers very similar image quality and sharpness as well as image stabilization. Cost aside however, the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III is the best performing version of this lens Canon has produced and delivers excellent results. Read the review…

EF 16-35mm f/2.8L

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III real-world sample gallery (DPReview)

Ef 16-35mm F/2.8L III
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Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

At a glance:

  • EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/2.8 to 22
  • Three Aspherical & Two UD Elements
  • Subwavelength & Air Sphere Coatings
  • Ring-Type Ultrasonic Motor AF System
  • Internal Focus; Full-Time MF Override
  • Fluorine Coating on Exposed Elements
  • Dust- and Water-Resistant Construction
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm

DPReview posted a set of 42 real-world sample pictures shot with the new Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III, a highly regarded lens that’s not in anyone’s budget ($2,199)